Conference Information
Supply and demand planning has become a crucial part of strategy deployment at manufacturers of all sizes and in all sectors. Leaders are realizing that maintaining a level, predictable fulfillment system protects profitability and positions a company to take quick advantage of growth opportunities.
Still, many manufacturers struggle with making the proper connections among the many functions and silos within their fulfillment system that enables a level, predictable state. Respondents to the just-completed IndustryWeek Custom Research/SAP research study on collaborative supply and demand planning face many challenges in this area. Specifically:
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28% said managing inventory for superior customer responsiveness and flexibility while controlling costs is their top challenge; 20% identified it as their No. 2 challenge; and 12% ranked it as No. 3.
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23% identified creating a predictable, stable and uninterrupted flow of activity and materials based on customer demand as their biggest challenge; 21% said in was their No. 2 challenge; and 19% ranked it as No. 3.
The good news is that there is great opportunity to improve performance via more accurate forecasting and more effective inventory management. But improving these functions requires systemwide effort, and this cannot occur without the proper infrastructure to enable constant communication, easily accessed visibility into information and material movement, and tracking and measuring standards and validations.
View this on-demand IndustryWeek-hosted event to learn how manufacturers are becoming more responsive -- while controlling costs -- through strategic inventory management. You hear a presentation about this supply and demand planning research from Tonya Vinas, editorial director of the research project. You also hear from a manufacturing executive about their company's success in maintaining a level and predictable fulfillment system.
Speakers
Steve Minter
Chief Editor
IndustryWeek
Steve Minter is the Chief Editor of IndustryWeek. He supervises IW's award-winning editorial staff in the production of its monthly magazine, Website, e-newsletters and other e-media. He is also the group content director for Penton Media's Manufacturing & Supply Chain Group.
Before joining the staff in 2009, Minter was publisher and editorial director of EHS Today, Penton Media's publication covering the safety, health and environmental market. He has a bachelor's degree in English from Oberlin College.
Tonya Vinas
Editorial Director
IW/SAP Custom Research Collaborative Supply & Demand Planning Study
Vinas is the former managing editor of IndustryWeek, a role she assumed after five years as New Media Editor of IndustryWeek.com. Prior to IndustryWeek, Vinas held various reporting and editing roles at The Times-Picayune (New Orleans), North Hills News-Record/Valley News Dispatch (Pittsburgh) and News-Press (Fort Myers, Fla.) In 2006, she formed her own company and today works as an editorial consultant specializing in business-to-business communications. Her clients include the National Association of Manufacturers, Lean Enterprise Institute and the Manufacturing Performance Institute. She is founding editor of the online newsletter, Lean Accounting News.
Sandy Markin
Senior Director, Suite Solution Management
SAP Labs LLC
Sandy Markin has over 30 years of experience in manufacturing and supply chain management. He has spent most of the past 15 years with SAP where he has been responsible for bringing to market a number of successful supply chain management solutions, including the Adavanced Planner and Optimizer and Collaborative Demand and Supply Planning. Prior to his career in software he was an Operations Manager with Kolcraft Products of Chicago, where he was instrumental in managing the rapid growth of the company. He also has experience with several other technology and consulting firms, including Oracle and PRTM, and currently serves on the Supply Chain Council North American Leadership Team. Markin received his bachelor's from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and his master's in business administration from Loyola University of Chicago.